ZIM ended 2014 with significantly improved Non-GAAP results, partly due to the completion of the Company’s debt restructuring, on July 16, 2014. The $3.4 billion debt restructuring, which included a debt to equity swap of $1.4 billion, significantly improved the Company’s financial strength and brought the Company to report positive equity.
Total revenues in 2014 amounted to $3.4 billion compared to $3.7 billion in 2013. Q4 revenues amounted to $813 million compared to $888 million in the corresponding quarter of 2013. Average freight rate per TEU in 2014 was $1,243, compared with $1,219 in 2013, a 2 per cent increase. In Q4, the average freight rate per TEU amounted to $1,271, compared to $1,181 in the corresponding quarter in 2013, an 8 per cent increase.
2014 EBITDA (in Non GAAP terms) amounted to $116 million profit, compared with a $2 million loss in 2013. Fourth quarter EBITDA amounted to $30 million, compared to $41 million in the previous quarter. However, fourth quarter 2014 EBITDA was impacted negatively by an accounting expense of $21 million to account for the revaluation of fuel hedging transactions.
ZIM’s net loss (in Non GAAP terms) was significantly reduced, from $343 million in 2013 to $127 million in 2014. ZIM’s 2014 Q4 net loss amounted to $4 million. Operating cash flow in 2014 amounted to $121 million compared to $13 million in 2013. Operating cash flow in Q4 amounted to $42 million.
Rafi Danieli, President and CEO noted that “The Company recorded a sharp improvement in Q4, and continues to record steady and ongoing improvement of its operating results. Through the implementation of our business plan, enhancing efficiency and improving our service and sales, we aim to continue in order to return to profitability and growth in 2015.”
ZIM’s business plan is focusing on profitable routes where the company offers added value to its customers, while improving and upgrading its points of interface with customers and continuing to improve its operational efficiency. The improved results derive, among other things, from organizational changes and expanding the scope of cooperation with other shipping companies which was unattainable before finalizing the restructuring. The reduction in fuel prices, which occurred towards the end of the year, also contributed to the improvement in Q4, despite these prices remaining unstable.
The Company carried 2,360,000 TEUs in 2014, a 6 per cent decrease compared with 2013. Most of the decrease was as a result of terminating the service from Asia to Northern Europe as part of its business plan. In Q4 the company carried 577,000 TEUs compared with 646,000 in Q4 of 2013.